• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.133-139
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• 2020

Background: The gastrocnemius (GCM) is one of the lower extremity muscles that tend to tighten easily. GCM tightness results in limited ankle dorsi-flexion (DF), especially when the knee joint is fully extended. Joint flexibility is determined by the morphological and physiological characteristics of joints, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Impaired joint flexibility can be attributed to increased susceptibility to muscle injury. High-frequency diathermy is clinically used to reduce pain and muscle tightness and to improve limited range of motion. Objects: This study aimed to investigate the immediate effects of high-frequency therapy in subjects with GCM tightness. Methods: The study was designed as a one-group before-after trial. The subjects included 28 volunteers with GCM tightness (an active ankle DF angle of less than 12°) without any known neurological and musculoskeletal pathologies in the ankle and calf areas. WINBACK Transfer Electrode Capacitive and Resistive Therapy equipment was used to apply high-frequency therapy to the subjects' GCMs for 10-15 minutes. The pennation angle and the fascicle length of the GCM were measured using ultrasonography. The flexibility of the ankle joint, peak torque to the passive ankle DF (Biodex), and soft tissue stiffness (MyotonPRO) were also measured. Results: The pennation angle was significantly decreased following the treatment; however, no significant difference in the fascicle length was found (p < 0.05). The flexibility was significantly increased and both the passive peak torque to passive ankle DF and the soft tissue stiffness significantly decreased (p < 0.05). Conclusion: High-frequency therapy is immediately effective for improving the muscle's architectural properties and functional factors in subjects with GCM tightness. Further longitudinal clinical studies are required to investigate the long-term effects of high-frequency therapy on subjects with GCM tightness from various causes.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.20-27
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• 2017

The aim of this paper is to present the modulus of elasticity of $E_L$, $E_R$, $E_T$ along three principal axis of softwood dimension lumber by nondestructive method. Ultrasonic measurement was carried out on defect free wood samples taken by the Japanese Larch, SPF (spruce-pine-fir) and Hem-fir $2{\times}4s$. The ultrasound velocities were measured to calculate young's moduli and it was derived elastic constants for each wood samples using the ultrasound velocities and densities of wood. From the test, $E_L$ was much greater than $E_R$ and $E_T$. $E_R/E_T$ ratios were about 1.3. The high density wood had high young's moduli in three principal axis and the difference in young's moduli between species was greater in transverse direction than longitudinal direction. The anisotropy of the lumber was presented through the calculated elastic moduli and compliances matrix in diagonal term were determined by inverting the stiffness matrix.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.42 no.11
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• pp.927-936
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• 2014

This paper presents development and verification of the progressive failure analysis upon the composite laminates. Strength and stiffness of the fiber-reinforced composite are analyzed by property degradation approach with emphasis on the material nonlinearity and continuum damage mechanics (CDM). Longitudinal and transverse tensile modes derived from Hashin's failure criterion are used to predict the thresholds for damage initiation and growth. The modified Newton-Raphson iterative procedure is implemented for determining nonlinear elastic and viscoelastic constitutive relations. Laminar properties of the composite are obtained by experiments. Prediction on the un-notched tensile (UNT) specimen is performed under the laminate level. Stress-strain curves and strength results are compared with the experimental measurement. It is concluded that the present nonlinear CDM approach is capable of predicting the strength and stiffness more accurately than the corresponding linear CDM one does.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.57-60
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• 2008

Compared with a steel-reinforced section with equal areas of longitudinal reinforcement, a cross section using FRP flexural reinforcement after cracking has a smaller depth to the neutral axis because of the lower axial stiffness. The compression region of the cross section is reduced, and the crack widths are wider. As a result, the shear resistance provided by both aggregate interlock and compressed concrete is smaller. Research on the shear capacity of flexural members without shear reinforcement has indicated that the concrete shear strength is influenced by the stiffness of the flexural reinforcement. In this research, experimental observations were made for the shear strength of FRP reinforced concrete beam and validity of existing predicting equations were examined. Test results showed that shear strength decreased as shear-span increased.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.35 no.9
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• pp.1113-1118
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• 2011

In order to evaluate the characteristics of solid-solid contact interfaces, reflection or transmission techniques involving normal-incidence longitudinal waves are generally used. However, these normal-incidence techniques are of limited use in field applications such as in the inspection of welded parts. The oblique-incidence ultrasonic technique may be an alternative for overcoming these problems. However, in this technique, the mode conversion at the contact interfaces should be taken into account along with the normal and tangential interface stiffness. In this study, we have suggested a theoretical model for obliqueincidence ultrasonic waves at the contact interfaces and analyzed their reflection and transmission characteristics. Experimental results showed that the measured reflection coefficient and second harmonic wave agreed well with the suggested theoretical model. Consequently, the oblique-incidence technique can be a promising method for evaluating the characteristics of the contact interfaces.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.154-166
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• 2023

This study establishes a numerical analysis model of the finite element overhung rotor supported by a DTRB and describes the stiffness properties of the DTRB. The vibration characteristics and contact pressure of the RBR system are predicted according to the DTRB support characteristics such as the initial axial compression and roller profile. The stiffness of the DTRB significantly varies depending on the initial axial compression and external load owing to the occurrence of rollers under the no-load condition and increase in the Hertz contact force. The increase in the initial axial compression increases the rigidity of the DTRB, thereby reducing the displacement of the RBR system and simultaneously increasing the natural frequency. However, above a certain initial axial compression, the effect becomes insignificant, and an excessive increase in the initial axial compression increases the contact pressure. The roller crowning radius, which gives a curvature in the longitudinal direction of the roller, decreases the displacement of the RBR system and increases the natural frequency as the value increases. However, an increase in the crowning radius increases the edge stress, causing a negative effect in terms of the contact pressure. These results show that the DTRB support characteristics required for reducing the vibration and contact pressure of the RBR system supported by the DTRB can be designed.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.164-171
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• 2006

If the velocities of longitudinal, transverse and leaky surface acoustic waves in an isotropic material are given, the elastic constants and density of the material can be deduced analytically. Those velocities have been measured using three ultrasonic transducers with different vibrational modes so far. In this paper a line-focusing PVDF transducer with divided electrodes was newly proposed and designed for measuring approximate velocities of the three waves. The measurement method established in this study for each waves using the transducer was applied to several isotropic materials including fused quartz. The elastic stiffness constants and densities of the materials were calculated using the measured velocities, and the accuracies were discussed. It was shown that the obtained results are in good accord with the reference values.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.638-646
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• 2016

CWR (continuous welded rail) tracks on high-speed railway bridges have much more complicated axial force distributions caused by track-bridge interaction than those behaviors on embankments, and additional problems caused by track-structure interaction with the axial force of the CWR. In order to analyze and limit other physical phenomena caused by track-bridge interaction, a design guideline (KR C-08080, longitudinal track-bridge interaction analysis) is used when designing CWR track on bridges. Domestic analysis and design methods for track-bridge interaction follow the UIC 774-3R, and they suggest conservative methods and deterministic properties. Recently, many studies analyzing the methods of track-bridge interaction considering the loading history are being carried out; however, there has been insufficient studies of the variation of the resistance properties with a consideration of the actual loading history. In this study, the performances of rail fastening systems used for concrete track on bridges were tested and analyzed while considering the loading history. For this purpose, longitudinal and vertical loading combinations, applied in order to simulate the practical conditions and resistance characteristics (stiffness and elastic limit displacement), are analyzed through the experimental results. Also, a comparison study was conducted with the properties in the KR Code.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.75 no.3
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• pp.389-399
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• 2020

An infill wall made of high-performance fiber-reinforced cementitious composites (HPFRCC) was utilized in this study to strengthen the reinforced concrete (RC) frame structures that had not been designed for seismic loads. The seismic performance of the RC frame structures strengthened by the HPFRCC infill walls was investigated through the experimental tests, and the test results showed that they have improved strength and deformation capabilities compared to that strengthened by the RC infill wall. A simple numerical modeling method, called the modified longitudinal and diagonal line element model (LDLEM), was introduced to consider the seismic strengthening effect of the infill walls, in which a section aggregator approach was also utilized to reflect the effect of shear in the column members of the RC frames. The proposed model showed accurate estimations on the strength, stiffness, and failure modes of the test specimens strengthened by the infill walls with and without fibers.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.363-377
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• 2018

An efficient and free of shear locking finite element model is developed and employed to study free vibration of tapered bidirectional functionally graded material (BFGM) beams. The beam material is assumed to be formed from four distinct constituent materials whose volume fraction continuously varies along the longitudinal and thickness directions by power-law functions. The finite element formulation based on the first-order shear deformation theory is derived by using hierarchical functions to interpolate the displacement field. In order to improve efficiency and accuracy of the formulation, the shear strain is constrained to constant and the exact variation of the cross-sectional profile is employed to compute the element stiffness and mass matrices. A comprehensive parametric study is carried out to highlight the influence of the material distribution, the taper and aspect ratios as well as the boundary conditions on the vibration characteristics. Numerical investigation reveals that the proposed model is efficient, and it is capable to evaluate the natural frequencies of BFGM beams by using a small number of the elements. It is also shown that the effect of the taper ratio on the fundamental frequency of the BFGM beams is significantly influenced by the boundary conditions. The present results are of benefit to optimum design of tapered FGM beam structures.